What is Digg?Sponsored by Travelzoo
Take Advantage of Ridiculously Low Holiday Airfares view!
travelzoo.com - Flights $52 and up for Thanksgiving, Christmas & New Year. But move on it now.
75 Comments
- inactive, on 10/12/2007, -1/+3This guy has no idea what he's talking about - Ziff Davis Noob. MythTV does everything a commercial media center does and plus no damn DRM.
- beandog, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2The article is actually pretty interesting, but he doesn't dive into any *real* details about where MythTV fails other than (from what I gathered) the encoded video doesnt look as nice on his TV?
Granted, MythTV is *very* nice, but it's still far from perfect. It'll probably get there faster, though. :) - inactive, on 10/12/2007, -2/+4It's called MythTV.
- periwinkle, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2Did anyone here actually read the article? He covered all those bases, but it appears the real issue comes down to libcss.
- OutlawJN, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2Here is the one thing most of you don't understand. He got you to read the article, and that is his job.
- ironmonkee, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1I recently setup a MythTV box for a project in my DBMS class this past semester. We tried it with Fedora Core 4 and KnoppMyth. While it isn't bad, I think that MythTV is not the greatest solution for a HTPC. I had a hassle trying to get MySQL to play nice. Some of the hardware was an issue as well-especially with the pcHDTV HD-3000 card we had installed in there...and its made for Linux!
A HTPC needs to be a no frills affair and I personally think the whole concept of one is not quite polished enough to be in the living room just yet. I don't want to have to tweak a piece of hardware or have to go use apt-get or grub to download the necessary libraries just so I can watch a DVD (an extreme example, but not out of the realm of possibility.) The ultimate litmus test for one should be if your spouse or someone in your household who is the most technologically naive or ignorant (and ignorant in a non-offensive sense...they just don't get or know about technology) can use the majority of the functions without frustration (in a HTPC's case, the PVR ability, accessing menus, watching TVs, DVDs, playing music, etc.) then you are good to go.
Now don't get me wrong here, I am a hardware and software nut and love just playing with such things, but when it comes time for me to sit and watch the old "boob tube", I don't want to have to deal with drama. Just my .02 on the matter.
Article dugg. - inactive, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1I don't think there's a market for it yet...
- TurmoilTech, on 10/12/2007, -1/+2... not diggin it. can we say "XBOX MEDIA CENTER?" anyone?
- timdorr, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1I've used MythTV. It sucks. Why? I couldn't conceive of leaving my mom alone with it for more than a few weeks. There is just too much low-level maintenance that you have to do. In addition, it's an absolute bitch to set up, even with KnoppMyth. I've tried to get QAM256 HDTV support working and it barely works. It also has major overscan issues with my TV.
I switched to Media Center with much reluctance, but I wish I had tried sooner. One wizard fixed all my overscan issues. A small downloadable program, that required no setup whatsoever, got me HDTV from the firewire from my cablebox (so I can even record the HD premium channels). Basically, I don't have to fight with MCE to do what I want to do. Until I don't have to fight with Myth, I'm not going to use it. - cvncpu, on 10/12/2007, -1/+2KnoppixMyth? MythTV on top of any distro?
oh snap, knowing something about linux before you write about it would be foolish! - fanboydcs, on 10/12/2007, -3/+4Hmm tivo is running on Linux, Freevo is on linux and so is Mythtv, This guy is a ***** moron
- thirdtenor, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Who the hell needs to burn DVD's? Its far more convienient and probably cheaper to add hard disk storage.
And anyone who says MCE is easy setup and does everything they want 1. Bought one already setup, and 2. Doesnt want much. - paulcooper, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1What he means is there is no MC for idiots on linux.
What he forgets is linux is not for idiots. - cdthompso1, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1No digg.
MythTV is the answer for both the PVR server and clients. Can use XBox, cheap Linux-based video players like the Hauppauge MediaMVP [mvpmc.sf.net], or just plain old PCs hooked to TVs as clients. And as others said, no DRM. Can anything commercial beat that?
Yes, I'm a Myth fanboy. - t928, on 10/12/2007, -1/+2Windows Media Center sucks.
- evanfrey, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1I have been running mythtv on gentoo for the past year and a half. Before that I was running it on fedora. On fedora I had trouble with the pvr functionality, but on gentoo, all features work as expected (that is to say great).
- dhughes, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1 The point of the article and comments here being people don't want to think. They just want to turn it on and have it work. Linux requires thinking, but is the cool option. Windows Media Center is too restrictive, and people like to trash MS.
There are dozens of attempts at media center type applications, I'm sure someone will eventually make one simple enough the average person can stumble though and install correctly. - hriwo, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1MCE is super easy to use and does everything I want it too
- CaptSnuffy, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1chriskzoo said "I always laugh at the Linux guys who claim it's the greatest because of all the open source development, and yet (granted there is MythTV) they still can't make Linux as easy to run as OSX and Windows (lov'em or hat'em). There's one simplt reason: money motivates."
And the other thing: All Linux programs are made by what i'd classify as "power users", who you can think of as Linux geeks (and i mean that with respect,. im a geek, they're geeks, ok?). These "power users" are comfortable with working outside of a gui for days, using cryptic terms and jargon, doing complicated tasks daily, etc. Average joe can't do this, but to a "power user" it's no problem and they figure the user will get it or they'll stick a note in a readme about it. That's the problem, and it really works that way; have you ever tried explaining something simply but the person didn't understand? Your perception of simple or normal was still at a higher level than their level of understanding. I once met this girl who didn't know what an omelette was, same thing (sort of). Here i thought an omelette was something common, but not to her. - Protoss, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1KnoppMyth is pretty freakin awesome. Just got home from a trip, and found that my MythBox recorded everything I wanted it to perfectly...No flaws I can find right now. Albeit the recording does require a beefy card, this ATI TV Wonder Pro doesn't record at top quality, but that is due to other factors, driver quality, etc.
- niggs, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0this guy is waaaay off. NO DIGG
- mooninite, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0Linux is a hobby? Why do I use it everyday for *work* ? Why do thousands of customers I work for rely on it as an operating system of choice to run 24/7?
Calling Linux a "hobby" shows your ignorance. You'll be using Windows when you're 70 years old running Adware Remove 6500 PLUS ULTRA EDITION with 3 types of Antivirus, all the while trying to run Solitare. GG. - groverallnight, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0"Linux is a hobby? Why do I use it everyday for *work* ? Why do thousands of customers I work for rely on it as an operating system of choice to run 24/7?
Calling Linux a "hobby" shows your ignorance. You'll be using Windows when you're 70 years old running Adware Remove 6500 PLUS ULTRA EDITION with 3 types of Antivirus, all the while trying to run Solitare. GG."
I run Fedora, Ubuntu, an altered version of GeeXboX, and I've dabbled with two dozen or so other distros...and guess what? I still think that Linux just isn't a viable option for the average user...for the average user (for a lot of people, really) Linux is more of a chore/hobby than a desktop OS. Linux is great in a controlled environment with tech-support on hand, but the average user doesn't have that...and the simplest things become enormous hurdles for them.
Without any kind of tech-support, Windows-caliber UPnP, and significantly easier methods of installing new software, Linux will never become as popular as it could. The average user isn't going to be scouring message boards to figure out how to do things, they won't be keying anything into any terminals, and they just WON'T be using Linux in numbers until Linux caters to the lowest common denominator. - hurt138, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0Freevo does way more than play a movie and if you spend the time in setting it up right it is a very slick setup.
- quaffapint, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0MythTV on Gentoo - Rock solid and has everything I wanted, even the wife and kids can use it :->
--
http://www.funnyandfun.com - randallb, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0What a crappy article. Why was this dugg?
He seems to only have one major reason for not liking MythTV. And I doubt he's 100% happy with MCE. - inactive, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0A media center in no way should be complex even in the install process!
Myth TV is a joke an needs a better alternative Knopmyth attempted this but needs allot more work!
TiVo co$t money every month which is a joke! - bsharitt, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0MythTV has what it takes to be a good drop in replacement for Windows MCE 2005 and even exceed it in several areas, though it could use a bid of polish, which is what this guy ultimate problem eventually was. The Linux media center is about where the Linux desktop was in the late 90's, it has everything that it needs, but still a bit rough around the edges.
- FearNLoathing, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0There won't ever be a powerful linux media center. The reason is that this type of thing is highly hardware specific, so unless everyone is using the same hardware, you're going to have one hell of a time making this work.
- mrstep, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0I have to agree with the article - MythTV SHOULD be the media center for linux. But I've had nothing but trouble with it. I've tried multiple distributions on mutiple hardware configurations, none of which have "just worked".
I'm not a linux guru - but I'm not a newb either. I to am still looking for the perfect media center. (geexbox does look promising though) - Rocketgeek, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0MythTV is certainly very nice. I have it running on one of my Linux boxes right here. When it is set up, it is gorgeous. However....
It needs to be far easier to install so it can be more widely propogated, if it is to demonstrate the benefits of an open source approach over Windows MCE. Yes, I know there is KnoppMyth, maybe I have been unlucky, but I had more success running the full blown MythTV than KnoppMyth.
If the installation process can be simplified, then MythTV would be awesome! - Xsecrets, on 10/12/2007, -1/+1This guy is a putz He complains about mythtv because the built in transcoder doesn't work up to his satisfaction, however beforehand he complains about how he has to use a separate program in his precious mce as well, and if you are going to use a separate program there are plenty of them for Linux as well. And what do you bet he bought a reconfigured and loaded mce box. For about the same price he could get the dragon KnoppMyth reference platform box, and it would work right off with knoppmyth.
- archer75, on 10/12/2007, -1/+1He's right, for the most part. He was comparing MCE2003 which lacks a number of features that he wanted which are in MCE2005.
It is certainly much easier to setup and has more features than anything in linux. - groverallnight, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0I don't know about the "good Linux Media Center PC program" that Mr. Steven J. Vaughan-Nichols is looking for, but I'm damned happy with GeeXboX Linux running on an old PII for playing my DVDs, VCDs, movie files, and music.
- FullMetalMonkey, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0Myth TV a pain in the ass!
It doesn't work with ATI ALL-IN-WONDER cards! ;( - chriskzoo, on 10/12/2007, -1/+1@CaptSnuffy - EXACTLY!
Power Linux users think everyone thinks like them and don't realize the majority of users DON'T WANT TO THINK, they just want it to work. - delvach, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0While I've got no practical experience with MythTV, I've heard nothing but good things, but my experience with most Linux/OS software offerings is that they're great for people who don't mind spend a few hours setting them up and dealing with a bland UI with little focus on usability. That said, the screenshots I can find for MythTV look pretty clean, but probably have too many options for your grandma, which is where FrontRow succeeds. It can't do everything under the sun, but it's clean, easy to understand, and is too damn simple to confuse anybody. Developers love addings as many options as possible, often working against their ability to capture a larger audience.
- corona1, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0If you are going to right a article like this I think you need to go into far more detail. It would also seem that where he has failed with Linux software people (some of which I know) have succeeded and not with the best hardware.
Things have only been getting better with open source software. I would like to see what he has to say in 3 months. Never mind... He wasn't smart enough to figure it out the first time. - pashdown, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0It would be nice to see Xbox Media Center ported to Linux. The interface for XBMC is really well done and there are some nice skins out there, but its starting to be underpowered especially when talking about HDTV.
- dhughes, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0 Conclusion: Linux is too complex for the average person. The average person doesn't want to use his brain.
- Lentilboy, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0Knoppmyth... trust me! If I can do it, its not that hard! www.mysettopbox.tv
- JimXugle, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0someone send this dude a link to Revision3's Tutorial on KnoppMyth before I do something drastic to end the stupidity.
- millermj, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0If he doesn't like the software that comes with Myth, or whatever, he should write it himself. If he can't, he should shut up!!
- sdenike, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0How did this get so many diggs? I mean MythTV has been around forever, atleast wayyy before it was even on the mac.
- ToeCheese, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0I have everything this guy mentions working on my Sony 34XBR960 HDTV set. I run everything at 720p. The only issue I have is that my pvr 150 has 2 inputs. One is a straight coax and the other is SVideo from the Cable box but I can't get the ir blaster working.
My brother has MCE 2005 and he is constantly messing with the Windows Registry to unlock some feature so this author shouldn't be crying about libcss. - monkeymagik, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0knoppmyth... i believe there have already been several set up guides digged.it is mentioned in the article but whoever wrote it hasn't taken into account that like any linux distro you have to make sure your hardware is supported. The latest kernel release seems to have improved support for TV cards
no digg - ToeCheese, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0"Dude I know sql but why should I have to install and confige a simple pvr box come on!!!"
Dude! Buy a pre-install Dragon KnoppMyth box!
-----
KnoppMyth supports Video Capture via Firewire and MPEG-4 capture devices. Front Row does not work as a PVR. I run the client on my Mac and my son's PC. - tfotherby, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0I actually agree that MythTV doesn't turn Linux into a viable Media center PC yet. It is hard to set up if you have anything but a standard set up (unless you are a total wizard). For example, in England digital TV is hard to tally up with program listings using XMLTV.
I also feel that the MythTV project releases new version disappointingly slowly. I understand how much work it is for someone who already has a job so I sit give it a thumbs up and I know it'll get their one day. - jaydee, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0guys I'm just about to start building a MCE PC for the lounge but the release of the xbox 360 has made me start to think i should use that instead. I'm not too bothered about recording TV too much I just wanna stream my Divx vids from another PC or from a hard drive. Will the media center part of the 360 do this ok? Also i thought that the 360 was going to struggle with HD content, anyone know if this is the case?
As for doing this on Linux, well I have set various ditros up on various PC's and have yet to make all my hardware work properly.
I want a MC PC to be easy to use and Linux is far from that, although I do enjoy messing about with it. - TomP, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0I know this is linux but is there any free ones for Windows?
- Tom | http://www.tomwrote.info -
Show 51 - 75 of 75 discussions
© Digg Inc. 2009
— Content created and posted by Digg users is